Mini Aussie or Australian Shepherd?

by Riley
(Ontario)

Just curious... My puppy is 7 months old, not overweight, and she weighs 43 pounds. Her parents were both classified as Mini Aussies (her genealogy is known, just Aussies, no other smaller breeds mixed in). Officially speaking, is she still considered a Mini Aussie or an Australian Shepherd? The whole debate mixes me up. Either way, it makes no difference, she is really just 100% perfection!

I have two Aussies. One mini and one toy. I have the pedigree for both of of them and they come from purebred Australian Shepherds. I love Aussies of all sizes, but for me, the mini or the toy is more feasible.

Aussiesby: Gayle-- Big Run Aussies

A man tried to convince me that my 40 lb Aussie girls are minis, which they are not. My youngest Aussie is 17" and 35 lbs at 17 months and she will get no bigger. A friend of mine who breeds minis calls Bryn my "mini who is not really a mini". She is not a mini. It depends what is on their papers now that minis are AKC registered. I believe the name is now Miniature American Shepherd. The gene pool for Aussies includes a wide variety in sizes which is how minis came about. 2 of my dogs were on the large side and produced offspring that were in the 30 lb range full grown.